Toy-Holding Baby Garment

ABSTRACT

A device for holding a baby item, includes a baby garment, a decorative shape coupled to a surface of the baby garment, a grasper coupled to a lower portion of the decorative shape by a loop and operable to attach objects to the baby garment, where the grasper includes a contiguous length having a first end and a second end and forming a shape, a first locking portion on the first end, and a second locking portion on the second end, the second locking portion couplable to the first locking portion. The grasper is operable to accept an object when the first locking portion and the second locking portion are unlocked and to retain the object when the contiguous length is inserted one of around, in, and through a portion of the object and the first locking portion and the second locking portion are locked.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. §119, of U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/989,093 filed Nov. 19, 2007having Attorney Docket “KS1107PROV,” the entire disclosure of which ishereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to baby garments, and moreparticularly relates to baby garments that are provided with tetheringfeatures, capable of coupling baby-related items to the garment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

One problem that parents of young children constantly face is a child'snatural compulsion to throw things. As a result, it is not at alluncommon to see toys and other objects emitted from baby strollers, highchairs, baby seats, and any other place a baby is allowed to hold thetoys and objects. This compulsion routinely results in lost or dirty andunsanitary items, such as pacifiers, bottles, toys, and others.Therefore, parents are forced to constantly monitor their children'shandling of an object and to regularly take inventory of all objectswithin reach of the child. Because many times items are simply lost,parents are also forced to purchase replacement items. Even when theitems are found, the cannot be immediately returned to the child due togerms that may have attached themselves to the item when it came intocontact with the ground.

Therefore, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art asdiscussed above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly, in accordance with the present invention, disclosed is a devicefor holding a baby item, the device including a garment, a decorativeshape coupled to a surface of the garment, a grasper coupled to a lowerportion of the decorative shape and having a non-contiguous positionoperable to accept at least a portion of an object within an interior ofthe grasper, and a contiguous position operable to retain the at least aportion of the object within the interior of the grasper.

In accordance with another feature, an embodiment of the presentinvention includes a loop coupling the grasper to the decorative shape.

In accordance with one more feature of the present invention, thegrasper includes a contiguous length having a first end and a second endand forming a shape, a first locking portion on the first end, and asecond locking portion on the second end, the second locking portioncouplable to the first locking portion, and wherein the grasper is inthe non-contiguous position when the first locking portion and thesecond locking portion are unlocked and in the contiguous position whenthe first locking portion and the second locking portion are locked.

In accordance with a further feature of the present invention, thedecorative shape is made of, for instance, cloth, vinyl, pliable plasticsheeting, a combination thereof, or other materials.

In accordance with yet another feature of the present invention, thedecorative shape includes an outer layer of material and an amount ofstuffing provided between the outer layer of the material and the babygarment.

In accordance with an additional feature of the present invention, thedecorative shape is coupled to the surface of the baby garment with, forinstance, snaps, VELCRO, a zipper, magnets, a combination thereof, orothers.

In accordance with another feature, an embodiment of the presentinvention also includes a device for holding a baby item, the deviceincluding a baby garment, a decorative shape coupled to a surface of thebaby garment, a loop coupled to a lower portion of the decorative shape,and a grasper coupled to the loop and operable to attach objects to thebaby garment. The grasper includes a contiguous length having a firstend and a second end and forming a shape, a first locking portion on thefirst end, and a second locking portion on the second end, the secondlocking portion couplable to the first locking portion, wherein thegrasper is operable to accept an object when the first locking portionand the second locking portion are unlocked and to retain the objectwhen the contiguous length is inserted one of around, in, and through aportion of the object and the first locking portion and the secondlocking portion are locked.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer toidentical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate viewsand which, together with the detailed description below, areincorporated in and form part of the specification serve to furtherillustrate various embodiments and to explain various principles andadvantages all in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a garment with a decorative shape and a grasperattached to a lower portion of the shape;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a garment with a decorative shape and with agrasper attached to a lower portion of the shape and securing an item tothe garment; and

FIG. 3 is a diagram of the garment, decorative shape, and grasper ofFIG. 2 rotated upward toward a neck portion of the garment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While the specification concludes with claims defining the features ofthe invention that are regarded as novel, it is believed that theinvention will be better understood from a consideration of thefollowing description in conjunction with the drawing figures, in whichlike reference numerals are carried forward. It is to be understood thatthe disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, whichcan be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural andfunctional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted aslimiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representativebasis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ thepresent invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.Further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to belimiting, but rather, to provide an understandable description of theinvention.

The terms “a” or “an,” as used herein, are defined as one or more thanone. The term “plurality,” as used herein, is defined as two or morethan two. The term “another” as used herein, is defined as at least asecond or more. The terms “including” and/or “having,” as used herein,are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). The term “coupled,” asused herein, is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly,and not necessarily mechanically.

The present invention provides a novel tethering device attached to achild's garment. The tethering device couples a child's toll and/orother objects to the garment, and thereby, the child, denying the childthe ability to throw or drop the objects onto the ground. Morespecifically, FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention,which includes an underlying garment 100, illustrated here as a shirt.However, the invention is not so limited and the garment can be anypiece of clothing. A decorative shape 102 with a tethering grasper 104attached at one edge thereof is affixed to the garment 100. Thedecorative shape 102 can be any shape and feature any pattern, color,picture, or additional decorations, such as lace or others. In addition,although the grasper 104 is shown in the figures as being round inshape, the invention is in no way limited to any particular shape of thegrasper 104. For instance, the grasper 104 can be round, rectangular,ovular, polygonal, and others.

The tethering grasper 104 is illustrated in FIG. 1 as a loop with anentry point 106 at a location where two ends 108, 110 of thenon-continuous grasper 104 meet. The entry point 106 can be a clasp orother coupling mechanism that allows the two ends 108, 110 to releasablyconnect to one another. The entry point 106 shown in FIG. 1 is a smallgap maintained by a stiffness in the grasper 104 (or portions of thegrasper 104) that holds the ends 108, 110 proximate to each other.

When the two ends 108, 110 are spread apart and able to accept objects,the grasper 104 is in a “non-contiguous” position and advantageouslyable to “capture” objects by accepting the objects or portions of theobjects into its interior 112. When the two ends 108, 110 are broughtback together, whether locked to each other or simply maintaining aclose enough proximity to each other to prevent the object from beingeasily released from the grasper 104, the grasper 104 is said to be in a“contiguous” position. In other words, “contiguous” does not necessarilymean that the grasper does not have a void along its length. The abilityto prevent objects from exiting through the entry point 106 isparticularly advantageous for objects associated with a baby, as babiesare known to throw or drop objects and then express their displeasure inlosing the item as soon as the object is gone. Parents can now rely onthe object remaining coupled to and accessible by the baby or otherwearer.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a loop 114 couples thegrasper 104 to the shape 102. The loop 114 can be sewn under a lowerportion of the shape 102 and extend downward to provide a structure forsecuring the grasper 104 to the garment 100. In some embodiments, theloop 114 is not seven under the shape, but is instead a continuous partof the shape 102 that extends down. The loop can be any material, suchas elastic, cloth (i.e., a pliable material made usually by weaving,felting, or knitting natural or synthetic fibers and filaments),plastic, or any other, but preferably strong enough not to allow thegrasper 104 to be tom away from the shape 102. Some embodiments of thepresent invention provide multiple loops for supporting multiplegraspers simultaneously.

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the grasper 104 and shape 102 ofFIG. 1. The grasper 104 includes a contiguous length 200 having a firstend 202 and a second end 204 and forming a shape. In this example, theshape is round. The grasper 104 has a first locking portion 206 on thefirst end 202 and a second locking portion 208 on the second end 204,where the second locking portion 208 is couplable to the first lockingportion 206. The grasper 104 is operable to accept an object when thefirst locking portion 206 and the second locking portion 208 areunlocked and to retain the object when the contiguous length 200 isinserted either around, in, or through a portion of the object and thenmanipulated so that the first locking portion 206 and the second lockingportion 208 are locked to each other.

As can be seen in this view, an exemplary object 210 is secured to thegarment 100 by the grasper 104, the loop 114, and the decorative shape102. The object 210, in this particular example, is a baby rattle, but avirtually unlimited number of items can be secured to the garment 100 bythe grasper 104 and shape 102. The rattle 210 is secured to the grasper104 by its base 212, which has a void 218 through which the grasper 104has been inserted. The clasp 106 of the grasper 104 creates a continuousloop 200 that prevents the grasper 104 from releasing the rattle 210.

Because the grasper 104 is secured to the shape 102 by the loop 114,attached at the lower portion 214 of the shape 102, the grasper 104, asshown in FIG. 3, can rotate toward an upper portion of the garment 100.The term “lower portion,” as used herein, indicates any location below amidpoint of the shape 102. The head of the rattle 210 extends up to theface area of a wearer of the garment 100, thereby allowing the wearergreat flexibility in playing with and viewing the rattle 210 or anyother object similarly attached.

Advantageously, the grasper 104 is able to hold multiple items. Forinstance, the grasper can hold several toys so that the child wearingthe garment 100 can have a selection of items to play with.

In some embodiments, the shape 102 and attached grasper 104 can beremoved from the garment 100. This removal is advantageous for washingpurposes, for sharing a single grasper 104 from garment to garment, andfor providing an easy way of exchanging shapes 102. The shapes 102 canbe selected for an occasion or to coordinate with other clothing items.A few examples of occasion-guided changes of the shape 102 are theattachment of a clover-shaped shape 102 on St. Patrick's Day, arabbit-shaped shape 102 on Easter, a pumpkin-shaped shape 102 onHalloween, and many others. The shapes 102 can be attached with snaps,Velcro®, magnets, and other known ways of attaching objects to agarment.

In one embodiment, the shape 102 is stuffed with a soft material, suchas cotton, so that the shape becomes more pleasant for a baby to touchand squeeze. The shape 102 can have other items inside as well. Forinstance, the shape 102 can house a squeak toys, a squishy gel pack, orother tactile or audibly pleasing items. Because some of these items maybe damaged in a washing machine, the can advantageously be combined withthe removable embodiment of the shape 102 and grasper 104. The shape 102can be made of any material, such as cloth, vinyl, pliable plasticsheeting, or any others.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to use withbabies, but can be used for other categories of people as well. Oneexample of a suitable use of the present invention, is for persons Withdisabilities.

A baby-toy securing garment been disclosed that provides flexibility inholding a number of items simultaneously, allows a wearer of the garmentto enjoy or use the items, and prevents the items from being separatedfrom the garment and, thereby, the wearer.

1. A device for holding a baby item, the device comprising: a garment; adecorative shape coupled to a surface of the garment; a grasper coupledto a lower portion of the decorative shape and having: a noncontiguousposition operable to accept at least a portion of an object within aninterior of the grasper; and a contiguous position operable to retainthe at least a portion of the object within the interior of the grasper.2. The device according to claim 1, further comprising: a loop couplingthe grasper to the decorative shape.
 3. The device according to claim 1,wherein the decorative shape is of at least one of cloth, vinyl, andpliable plastic sheeting.
 4. The device according to claim 1, whereinthe decorative shape comprises: an outer layer of material; and anamount of stuffing provided between the outer layer of the material andthe baby garment.
 5. The device according to claim 1, wherein thedecorative shape is of cloth and has a decorative pattern thereon. 6.The device according to claim 1, wherein the decorative shape is coupledto the surface of the baby garment with stitches.
 7. The deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the decorative shape is coupled to thesurface of the baby garment with at least one of: snaps; VELCRO; azipper; and magnets.
 8. The device according to claim 1, wherein thegarment is a baby garment.
 9. The device according to claim 1 whereinthe decorative shape is removably attached to the garment.
 10. Thedevice according to claim 1, wherein the grasper comprises: a contiguouslength having a first end and a second end and forming a shape; a firstlocking portion on the first end; and a second locking portion on thesecond end the second locking portion couplable to the first lockingportion, wherein the grasper is in the non-contiguous position when thefirst locking portion and the second locking portion are unlocked and inthe contiguous position when the first locking portion and the secondlocking portion are locked.
 11. A device for holding a baby item, thedevice comprising: a baby garment; a decorative shape coupled to asurface of the baby garment; a loop coupled to a lower portion of thedecorative shape; a grasper coupled to the loop and operable to attachobjects to the baby garment, the grasper including: a contiguous lengthhaving a first end and a second end and forming a shape; a first lockingportion on the first end; and a second locking portion on the secondend, the second locking portion couplable to the first locking portion,wherein the grasper is operable to accept an object when the firstlocking portion and the second locking portion are unlocked and toretain the object when the contiguous length is inserted one of around,in, and through a portion of the object and the first locking portionand the second locking portion are locked.
 12. The device according toclaim 11, wherein the decorative shape is of at least one of cloth,vinyl, and pliable plastic sheeting.
 13. The device according to claim11, wherein the decorative shape comprises: an outer layer of material;and an amount of stuffing provided between the outer layer of thematerial and the baby garment.
 14. The device according to claim 11,wherein the decorative shape is of cloth and has a decorative patternthereon.
 15. The device according to claim 11, wherein the decorativeshape is coupled to the surface of the baby garment with stitches. 16.The device according to claim 11, wherein the decorative shape iscoupled to the surface of the baby garment with at least one of: snaps;VELCRO; a zipper; and magnets.
 17. The device according to claim 11,wherein the garment is a baby garment.
 18. The device according to claim11, wherein the decorative shape is removably attached to the garment.